Maria. We will call her name Maria to protect her identity in the telling of this story written by Sean Warren – Pastor of Community Engagement + Guest Services.

This morning we opened the summer cooling station here at the church and our guests started trickling in. Some are dropped off, others own not so gently used cars, and of course there are those who just come by foot. Maria came in leaving her car/home in the parking lot. When she walked in, she was warmly greeted by our church staff and the staff of the Salvation Army….greeted by name. (Something you don’t often think about, but many people experiencing homelessness don’t have someone to call them by name.)

“How you doing Maria?”
“I am blessed!” (Maria has just completed a night shift as a roaming fill in for a local gas station chain.)

As Maria entered the room she looked through a small rack of t-shirts that are free for the taking. Her eyes spied the “I love the 80’s” shirt and a big smile came over her face.

“That’s when I was a teenager!”

Maria takes the slightly smaller shirt then she should actually wear and starts to stretch it out. I ask what kind of music did she listen to back in the day, and she is quick to say Madonna, Cindy Lauper, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson….etc. She then makes a statement about Michael Jackson.

”I think he must have been abused as a child. Growing up on the road. No one looking out for him…I think that is why he must have done some of the things he did.”

I nodded in agreement, and said, “Yep, there was definitely something wrong there.”

Then she says, with the volume of her voice dropping, “I too was abused. It wasn’t by my father, he died when I was three. It was by my mom’s boyfriend. I was four.”

Not anticipating such a quick and brutally transparent statement, all I could say was,
“I am so sorry Maria, that shouldn’t have ever happened to you.”
Maria gently nodded her head in agreement.

Then for the next fifteen minutes, Maria became a stream of consciousness laying out before me the road that has brought her to this cooling station. Her mom and dad legally came over the boarder for work when she was very little, but her father died and her mother was left to scramble with her children. One aunt took her oldest sister, and she and her smaller sister went with mom.

“My mom didn’t really marry this guy. I don’t know if she really loved him, I just think that she didn’t want to be alone.”

It also went through my mind that it was a move of survival…no money, a different country, no family around, what do you do? At least that guy gave them shelter and food. But that man was also a predator. And a young Maria was powerless.

Maria then talked about how she cared for her younger sister and protected her. She said her mother had to work multiple jobs, so she was the mother of her sister. She said,

“When I was thirteen I told my sister about Jesus, and she became a Christian. She still thanks me to this day for telling her about Jesus when we are on the phone.”

She turns her head and starts to wipe tears that are coming down her face. I ask if she ever gets to see her sister. She said no, she lives very far away. When I asked her about her own family, she stated that she has three children. One son used drugs and became schizophrenic. She doesn’t know where he is, he too is homeless somewhere. She has another daughter who is married with two children and one on the way but they had to move into temporary housing. She then stated, I could never live with them, they need to have their own lives, and I don’t want to be a burden to them. She then tells me of her last daughter, who somehow became a nurse. She only occasionally talks to her…she says,

“I call her and say, ‘Baby I love you so much, I’m proud of you.’ She tells me she loves me too, but she is really busy, and we don’t have time to talk.”

My heart feels the pain of the daughter….she is glad she escaped, she doesn’t know what to talk about, but she loves her mother. Maria stated that she did some drugs years ago, and did time in prison. She then said,

“I don’t know why, I’ve just been so angry over the years.”

Maria then begins to quote scripture and talks about life choices. She states that she wishes more people around her would change their life by accepting Jesus…and then she talks about how life is so good for her, and how blessed she is.

I told her Jesus has this cot for her, this food, and cool space for her to rest today.
She continued to talk about how blessed she was…

I believe Maria is an example of the complexity of one person’s story. Multiple cultures, languages, death, abandonment, abuse, vulnerability, missing family, ambiguity, anger, addiction, incarceration, motherhood, hard working, sacrifice, loss, hope in despair, perseverance, fear and the struggle to be seen or heard.

If we could only have magical sunglasses to see things as they really are, the ability to know the true context of the soul standing before us, I am confident our hearts would break, our compassion would flow, and the desire to do more would increase. We would recognize this it is infinity more complex then the headline or sound bite….it’s a human that needs hope.

Recently I read this quote.

“People don’t walk around with signs. But everyone’s struggling with something. When we are mindful of this, we are gentler with others. When we forget this, we abandon our humanity.”

Matthew Kelly – Life is Messy

God, make us into the compassionate humans we need to be.

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Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! // 1 Corinthians 15 (MSG)

Death is weird. And we don’t know how to respond to it if we are honest. Which may be why funerals can often be so chaotic. There is a finality to it, an abruptness to it, that feels out of place, like, it’s not supposed to be this way. And in many ways, it’s not.

The Scripture tells us that Eternity is set in the heart of man.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.  // Ecclesiastes 3:11 

The Westminster Shorter Catechism appropriately claims that man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

This is what was set in motion in the Garden, until our first parents believed the lie about God and death and exile entered the story, and disrupted humanity.

But God.

Being rich in mercy and love, sets into motion the dramatic true story of a God who pursues His people, culminating in the Hero King Jesus, conquering the grave, crushing the snake, and triumphing over sin. This decisive victory has won for all of those who would put their faith, hope and allegiance in the person of Jesus alone, and His life, death, and resurrection alone, the inheritance of eternal life with Jesus forever.

Easter provides for us more than just an answer to what happens when we die, it gives us the confidence and hope for the life we live now.

Because we know, that while death is a heart breaker, the grave does not have the final word in our story. When we live with that kind of confidence, we can walk in the ways of Jesus, and image, and improv (to borrow a term from my friend Brian), Him wherever we show up in the world.

I think this is why Jesus was so determined to break up funerals in His Earthly ministry. His friend Lazarus, the son of the Widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus, all brought back to life by Jesus. Even Paul and Peter, by the power of the Holy Spirit, were used by God to bring back Tabitha and poor Eutychus, who fell out of a window during a particularly long sermon.

And of course, Jesus Himself, cancelled His own funeral on Easter morning.

The life of Jesus is remarkable, truly, altering the course of human history, turning the world upside down with His teaching and miracles. The death of Christ on His cross is absolutely essential and deserves constant contemplation and remembrance. But the Resurrection is Good News, of a Good King, and His Good Kingdom, that has conquered that for which we have no answer for. The result of the resurrection for those who believe, is a hope and a confidence that should give us the kind of boldness we see with our brothers and sisters in the book of Acts. As the Holy Spirt lit the flame of the Church, we see a people who changed the world and from a small room, became a global movement for the fame of Jesus and the good of the world. How? By testifying to the Risen Lord, Jesus the Christ.

On Easter, I often think of friends of mine whose stories have continued into the presence of Jesus. AJ, Tom, Jessie, to name a few. All of whom know just how real the resurrection really is. And if we could see what they see, and experience what they are experiencing, we’d never stop talking about it, singing about it, being about it. Which is what they are no doubt doing.

This Easter, we join our voice to theirs, and the voices of countless through human history, who give glory and honor to the One who has conquered death, sin, and our guilt, once and for all.

Hallelujah, What a Savior!

Pastor Paul Artino

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Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus was thinking about while on the cross? I don’t dare simplify it to one thought or conclusion. However, my answer dare not rob Christ of His humanity or divinity either. Jesus hung on the cross for six long hours. Shorter than many crucifixions, but still ample time for both His humanity and divinity to be on display. John 19:26 records Jesus’ statement to John and his mother on the cross, “Woman, here is your son.” to his mother and to John, “Here is your mother”. An often missed very sweet moment of humanity where Jesus’ love for His mother is seen by connecting her to the disciple He loved, John. We are told that John took Mary into his home and cared for her from that time on. It is also interesting that unlike many of the disciples, John lived for quite some time before being exiled to the island of Patmos around 95 AD. Plenty of time for John to care for Jesus’ mother until she was ushered into heaven with Christ.

We also see another glimpse of His humanity in his desire for something to drink. Possibly in order to clearly state, “It is finished!” This is his last statement and a powerful display of His divinity on the cross making full payment for our sin through His blood.

A simple caveat: While the rest of this article will focus on Christ’s thoughts towards humanity on the cross, I would never want these devotional thoughts to trivialize the unbelievable divine transaction on the cross. The drops of blood mixed with sweat in the garden of Gethsemane make clear the anguish of Christ as He considered bearing the weight and wrath of God for the sin of the world. It is clearly a divine mystery to ponder the agony experienced by Christ as justice was accomplished at the cross. Praise Him forever. But Jesus’ humanity and divinity were in perfect union here on the earth. Even on the cross.

As I look at the Crucifixion and the events leading up to it, I am struck by the timeline. While we don’t have the exact timing given to us expressly, it is very reasonable to assume through a unified look at the gospels that the time between Peter’s denial of Christ and Jesus peering across a courtyard into Peter’s eyes, heart and very soul is only a matter of hours.

I can’t get this out of my head. Jesus went to the cross with the darkest moment of Peter’s life on His mind … at least in part. He felt the sting of betrayal multiple times in the moments leading up to the cross and yet His heart of compassion and forgiveness was on full display in His request to the Father in the stead of those mocking Him, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” and to the thief crucified alongside Him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise”.

Pastor Matt Driesbach

There truly is such beauty in the heart of Jesus. Too much for me to comprehend. Jesus loved Peter. Peter betrayed Jesus. Yet in the midst of this, it is safe to assume that Jesus is moved with compassion towards Peter. We can read of Jesus’ loving restoration of Peter in John 21. Think about this for a minute. Imagine the scene. Peter is scared, ashamed, weak. His eyes meet the eyes of the one he has just denied even knowing. And yet, Jesus is moved by love. While the breadth and complexity of all that was pondered on the cross could never be expressed by human efforts, I am confident in this; Jesus carried the darkest moment of Peter’s life to the cross and it was paid for just hours later when He declared, “It is finished!”

If you know Jesus today, that same declaration was made over your sin! Think about the fact that Christ actively died for your sin. Not the generic sins of the world that may or may not occur. He took the darkest moments of your life to the cross and finished them, paid the debt that you owed. I can’t imagine how Peter felt … the lowest moment of His life. Or maybe I can. I have felt the sting of my own darkness. The sense that not only could God not love or forgive me, but why would anyone? Have you been through a season like this? Maybe you are in one now. The darkness is overwhelming. Jesus knows the sin(s) you go back to … the thing you view, do, say or think. Yet declared over your darkness is this: “IT IS FINISHED!”

Our disbelief is what separates us from this truth. Our disbelief that anyone could ever suffer at the hands of our sin and at the same time move towards us with compassion. But this is exactly what Jesus does on the cross! The wonderful and horrible, the beautiful and tragic cross of Christ. The beauty of Christ’s love is deep and mysterious … knowing no bounds.

This Easter weekend, my hope and my earnest prayer is that you would allow for some time to ponder this incredible display of love in stark contrast to the depth of your own/my own darkness and come to the unimaginable conclusion that that display of limitless love was for you…was for me. It is there we find the gospel as we are dragged to the depths of our own hopelessness only to be resurrected to heights unimaginable by the majesty of Christ…IT IS FINISHED.

The gift of music in Spirit and in truth ministers to me on a regular basis, I invite you to click these few favorite songs of mine to add to your pondering this Easter weekend.

Yet to this I hold, my sin has been defeated
Jesus now and ever is my plea
Oh the chains are released, I can sing, "I am free!"
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

There was a moment when the lights went out
When death had claimed its victory
The King of Love had given up His life
The darkest day in history
There on a cross they made for sinners
For every curse His blood atoned
One final breath and it was finished
But not the end we could have known
For the earth began to shake
And the veil was torn
What sacrifice was made
As the heavens roared:
All hail King Jesus!
All hail the Lord of Heaven and earth!
All hail King Jesus!
All hail the Savior of the world!

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Passover is the oldest, continually celebrated holiday, ordained by God, on the face of the earth.

This holy day has a 3000 year history of bringing people closer together and closer to God. Each celebration of this Holy Day was to be a memorial to the original Passover, when the Death Angel of the Lord passed over certain homes in Egypt that fateful night because those homes were protected by the blood of sacrificial lambs. Unlike most Holy days of Christianity that are observed in Church, since the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70, Passover has been celebrated in the home with family and friends as they eat a meal together called a Seder. It is an occasion to teach each new generation the story’s value in Jewish history.

The Seder is filled with ritual and symbolism and follows a certain prescribed order, as laid out in a Haggadah, or prayer book. Haggadah is a Hebrew word meaning “the telling”. Passover is about preserving, teaching, and reenacting tradition. As a liturgical memorial of the exodus, the Seder would have been central to Jesus’ religious life. In fact, Jesus said these words to His disciples,

"I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” //  Luke 22:15 

Passover is the occasion on which Christ Jesus established a new covenant with His people. The Apostle Paul wrote that the Passover of “the new covenant” has now became “the Lord’s Supper”. In typology, we now see that the paschal lamb of the Hebrew Passover was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Christ (Messiah) our Passover Lamb sacrificed for us.” The stain of the lamb’s blood applied to the doorways of the Hebrew homes in Egypt, which redeemed all believers from the tenth plague of death, was a type of “the precious blood of Christ (Messiah), as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” wrote the Apostle Peter in I Peter 1:18-19. The “cup after supper” containing the unfermented “fruit of the vine,” was sanctified by the Lord Jesus as symbolic of His pure, unadulterated redeeming blood – as He said, “This is My blood of the new covenant.” “The blood of Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah which cleanses us from all sin,” wrote the Apostle John in I John 1:7.  At communion we drink this remembering that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and that it is His grace that transforms us and brings us from darkness into His marvelous light.

As Christians, we not only remember salvation from the Egyptians but also redemption into the Kingdom of God. At the very first Seder Dinner, God’s people celebrated their return to the Promised Land, while communion celebrates our inclusion into the Kingdom of God. 

“Thy Kingdom come” is not a wish but a fact to celebrate because the perfect Lamb of God, Messiah-Yeshua, shed His blood for us.

Pastor Neil Pitchel

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On March 18th of this year, the Ambassador of Belarus, Ihar Sokol, was leaving the Ukraine for his home when a border officer stopped him and asked who he was. Then, with identity confirmed, the soldier stated that he had been ordered to give him 30 pieces of silver. (The interaction was caught on video.) The officer, extending his hand with the bag of coins, didn’t find his gesture received well by the Ambassador. To say the least, the contempt was palpable…the betrayal was certain.

As refugees flee, buildings smolder, and mass graves are dug, the world watches as mankind’s brokenness is on center stage. Betrayal is everywhere.

It’s been over 2000 years since Judas gave up Jesus, and the symbolism and reality of that moment is as real today as it was back then. Those 30 pieces of silver seem to always be in demand one way or another…sometimes collected 1 coin at a time. So what can we take away from that betrayal 2000 years ago? Is there something we can learn today?

Looking at 3 passages which chronicle Judas’ actions, we can find some take aways.

Matthew 26:14-16 // Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Mark 14:10-11 // Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Luke 22:3-6 // Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

A SECRET DESIRE NURTURED

In all these passages we see it is Judas who went to engage the chief priests with his plan, to their surprise, and delight, not the other way around. This betrayal was something that had been building up inside Judas, the desire for more of the clang of coins in his own pocket. We know he had been dipping into the money bag for a while. John says it this way…

”He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it." // John 12:4-6.

Judas liked what money could do for him. It provided something that he wanted. Be it things, experiences, power, security, you name it. Judas craved the money, or the thought of what the money might do, more than he enjoyed Jesus. Because he had already been stealing from the bag, we know he was keeping a secret, nurturing a sin. It started with managing the money, which was a good thing, it would end in his ultimate demise.

St. Augustine says it this way….. “Sin arises when things that are minor good are pursued as though they were the most important goals of life. If money or affection or power are sought in disproportionate, obsessive ways, then sin occurs. And that sin is magnified when, for these lesser goals, we fail to pursue the highest good and the finest goals. So when we ask ourselves why, in a given situation, we committed a sin, the answer is usually one of two things. Either we wanted to obtain something we didn’t have, or we feared losing something we had.” I believe this was true for Judas as well.

I’m sure Judas didn’t start out by stealing a massive amount of money. I’m sure it started with 1 coin at a time, then grew, as it always does. I suppose it could have started with a justification of his actions….”I earned this, I deserve it. No one will even miss it. They don’t appreciate everything I do for them. No one cares really.” He began the process of nurturing, and justifying, his secret sin.

Question…

Do you have a secret sin that you need to confess, one that you have been nurturing?

Do you have a thought that you need to name and expose, because of where it will lead your heart if it goes unchallenged?

Has the Holy Spirit already been speaking to you about this?

A FALSE FRONT

I have always thought it was amazing that Judas had walked with Jesus for 3 years. Courtside. He saw all of it. The miraculous, the amazing, the glory, and the power of Jesus. He witnessed things he could never explain. He was one of the 12. He listened to the late night talks of Jesus, he saw him walk on water, he was there when the 5000 were fed.

He experienced everything the disciples experienced, except for the heart transformation, which was the ultimate experience.

Judas had mastered how to walk the walk, hang out with the right people, how to be seen as one who knew Jesus without actually being one who did. There was a gap. The gap was the difference between his spiritual reality and how he was perceived. The scary thing….Judas didn’t follow Jesus, and no one knew that about him, everyone assumed he was fully bought in, a true disciple. This is what made the betrayal possible. His heart wasn’t in lock step with Jesus. His betrayal was a transaction, in a relationship that had come to an end. Jesus was no longer beneficial to Judas. Time to cash out.

Question…

In what ways do you have a GAP between how people perceive you and your spiritual walk and how you actually are? Do you have a false front, a facade?

Has there been a time when you have been tempted to “cash out” in your walk with Jesus? To not claim him?

NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM YOU AND I

There is a temptation though to make Judas into someone who is extremely different than we are. To make him out as the absolute worst kind of human, one that we could never be, when in reality, our hearts are all too frequently tempted to betray Jesus and replace him.

Perhaps the greatest thing we can take away from Judas’ kiss on Jesus’ cheek, is the examination of our own hearts. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said ‘Self-denial is a necessary aspect of a Christian life; that the cross is central to human understanding; and that, without the atonement, every one of us would stand forever in the role of Judas.”

What is it that you and I should be denying of more in our life? Surely many things, but ultimately, we should deny the desire to climb up and sit on the seat in which only Jesus should fill, the throne of our life.

When you think of the dark moment of Judas’ betrayal ask yourself this question… “Am I so different from him?” In the stillness of this Easter season, take the opportunity for true self examination. Have you become apathetic? Have you become self-righteous? Have you become complacent? Use the life of Judas as a mirror to look into, to examine and see if there are any similarities, then quickly turn, and look upon Jesus and know He loved, loves, and will continue to love you through all the ups and downs, mountain tops and valleys. So check your pockets, and make sure you don’t have any pieces of silver, not even 1. And if you do, well, this is the perfect time to confess it, and die with Jesus…and be raised to new life.

The post 30 Pieces of Silver, One Coin at a Time — The Journey To Easter appeared first on Gilbert.

The Mount of Olives is a place that holds a large significance in the ministry of Jesus. Serving as a kind of basecamp for Jesus and His disciples when they are in and near Jerusalem during festivals, many moments recorded in the gospels occur in or near this beautiful and peaceful place.

In particular, Matthew 24 and the following few chapters record a lengthy section of teaching that Jesus gives to His disciples, sitting under the shade of the massive olive trees, gazing across the valley at the Temple Mount just a short distance away.

He is preparing them for the final confrontation that is to come with the religious authorities during the Passover festival. Jesus knows this confrontation will lead to His death and that the outcome of the next few days is going to be the critical climax of His mission. He also knows that what is to come is going to subvert expectations and confuse and frighten His friends. In love, He attempts to communicate to them a way to understand what is to come.

He assures them that the violence and conflict that they will witness is simply part of what will be an unraveling of a plan to bring the gospel of the kingdom to all nations (24:14). He assures them that even though He will leave, He will also return, (24:30) and with Him He will bring judgement on rebellion and justification for those that have kept their faith in Him. He tells them that no one but God knows when this will all happen (24:36) but that the promise is one that can be relied upon and trusted because it comes from the trustworthy One.

Chapter 25 of Matthew is filled with parables or stories that Jesus tells his disciples about how they are to operate in the in between. From when He leaves to when He returns. His teaching gives them direction, purpose and urgency to the mission He is leaving with them. Starting with the Parable of the Ten Virgins (25:1-13), He teaches them to be prepared for His return. That His delay should not be mistaken for a lack of intention to return to His people and His world. He instructs them to be on watch and ready for His arrival.

Verses 14-30, instructs His followers to be faithful and responsible stewards for the gifts he has given to them. To invest on behalf of our master, Jesus for the purpose of seeing His gifts bear fruit and grow kingdom rewards. This parable encourages us to be faithful with the little things we are entrusted with and to see the joy of God manifest in our lives as He entrusts us with more through faithfulness.

Jesus’ parables end in Chapter 25 with a striking story about the sorting of the sheep and the goats. The promise of the King toward the faithful sheep is that they will be included in the kingdom and inheritance to come while the warning to the goats is that they will be left out of the King’s reign and rule and goodness.

The shocking piece of the story Jesus tells his friends is that the determination of their faithfulness or lack thereof is their treatment of Him. Their care for Him when He was hungry, thirsty, unclothed, imprisoned demonstrates their commitment to the good and righteous ways of the King and their belonging to His kingdom to come. It demonstrates their commitment to the King’s ways.

He anticipates the servant’s confusion as they ask when they saw Him hungry, when they saw Him thirsty, naked and in prison. The shocking conclusion to this final story in the grove of olive trees is that Jesus associates Himself directly with anyone who is in need and lost and hungry and cast aside. He says that when they care for the stranger and the least of these, they are caring for Him.

As we continue our march toward the cross and the tomb remembered on Good Friday and Easter, these stories from the Mount of Olives, remind us of the call on us who call Jesus King. As we exist in the in between, we are called to be vigilant and on watch for His return. We are called to be faithful stewards of the gifts we have been entrusted with to invest and steward them for a kingdom return. And we are to care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the needy and the imprisoned because caring for them is caring for Jesus himself.

Lord, help us and keep us and give us the grace we need to be faithful in our calling as we wait for your return.

Pastor Jeremy Olimb

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“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.  So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”  And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
JOHN 12:12-15

Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem – what is also called Palm Sunday marks the transition between His earthly ministry, and His passion of the cross.  So, is it the end of something, or the beginning of something?  YES.  In some ways, this marks one of the greatest, most pivotal moments in the life of Christ.  His birth, life, and tactical ministry are now behind Him.  But the stage set before Him is His ultimate earthly and redemptive ministry that begins here.  Here are just a few thoughts to consider as we look to this day.

This moment isn’t a surprise.  

In Zechariah 9:9, we read this scene prophesied 500 years earlier:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
Righteous and having salvation is He,
Humble and mounted on a donkey,
On a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The people of Israel, gathered for the Passover Feast would have known that this was no ordinary Passover celebration.  For thousands of years, God’s children had been anticipating their king coming to rescue them, to conquer the wickedness of their oppressors, and bring peace and flourishing to the land.  So, when Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, there is a faint vapor rising out of the words of the prophet Zechariah that points to this day.  But this moment is orchestrated by God, and carried out by Jesus.  Remember the words of Zechariah – Your king is coming, with righteousness and salvation, clothed in humility, and mounted on a donkey.  In some ways, this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for!

This moment is misunderstood.

Later, in John 12:16, we read that the disciples didn’t understand exactly what was happening – and wouldn’t fully until Jesus was glorified.  But there is a pretty clear indication that the crowd had a narrative they were working with.  The palm branch that was being waved was, culturally, a symbol of victory and triumph, peace and eternal life.  The crowd was expecting a conquering hero, which Christ is – in the most full and complete way – just not on this day.  They were expecting a king that would satisfy their longing to see Israel exalted as a political, economic and social power, but that wasn’t His agenda on this day.  He accepts their praise of “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” but with a different trajectory, because He came to set up a “kingdom reign over all nations, including Israel and Rome – a reign of grace in the hearts of His children, and a reign of peace over ALL that He has made.”  (Gospel Transformation Bible)  

This moment isn’t isolated.

The fact that this is all happening after the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38) and that the people are still speaking about it is a wonderful reminder that everything is going according to God’s master plan, and that the elements of that plan are connected.

His friend has died.  

And so, Christ displays His power over death, and LAZARUS lives again.  

The fact that this is all happening during the Passover feast is beautiful, and poetic.  Imagine the scene – All of Israel, gathered to remember, again, that during the plagues against God’s enemy in Exodus 12 there was a passing-over of God’s wrath and judgement for those who would paint the doors of their homes with the blood of a lamb.  Now Christ, riding into the holy city of Jerusalem on a donkey, boldly yet humbly declaring that He has come to set up a righteous kingdom, is also declaring that the gate to that kingdom is Himself – the ultimate lamb.  CHRIST is our only hope, and He is our Passover lamb.  It is the ultimate demonstration that is yet to come in the story of the passion that “He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of Christ.”  

And so, Christ displays his power over death, and WE live again.

This moment is for us.

I love what this scene does for my expectations of Christ and His kingdom.  It’s easy to sit back and read this narrative, critiquing Israel’s hope for a kingdom that is ultimately unsatisfying because they were looking for a political king, a social king, a victorious king – here and now!  But what of me?  Am I so different?  Don’t I have it within me to think that political systems, social programs and economic flourishing are ultimate goals of a peaceful society?  Do I judge Israel, yet water my own garden of misunderstanding by hoping in the systems of this world?  

Christ humbly yet boldly calls us, in this moment, to trust in HIS kingdom.  Later in John’s gospel, Christ calls us to be branches of a vine that is rooted fully and ONLY in Himself.  We are called to abide in Christ, trust in His sacrifice, and to be about the flourishing of HIS kingdom.  A kingdom that sure and secure, but it hasn’t come to its final fruition.  So, we are to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness.”  We look forward to the day when that kingdom comes, but for now we are His ambassadors to a world that desperately needs to hear the message of the gospel – that there is One who conquered sin and death for his people (those who repent and believe in Him) who triumphed over death for Himself, and will – one day – finally, with unchallenged authority DESTROY Death.  Forever. That is the kingdom He promises – one where there is no death because death has been defeated; and where there is no weeping, for our loving Father will wipe every tear from our eye.  A kingdom of a renewed creation where the nations are healed, and there is no shadow because the glory of Christ is an all-encompassing glory that declares His reign over all things.  

So let us remember that though He once rode into the Holy City of Jerusalem on a donkey in humility, He is now seated at the right hand of the Father – ruling and reigning in glory as the GOOD and PERFECT King.  

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15b  

The post Palm Sunday – The Journey to Easter appeared first on Gilbert.

“Much like the weeks-long build up to Christmas that is the season of Advent, Lent provides the backdrop for the coming Easter celebration.”

Pastor Jeremy Olimb

The Lenten season is celebrated widely across Christian traditions around the globe in all three of the major branches of the Christian faith. Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox believers of many types have continued to practice this formal preparation time in the 40 days leading up to the celebration of Easter. While following the date assigned for our yearly Easter celebration which varies from year to year (If you’d like to learn more about how that day is calculated you can read up here), the beginning of the season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and is a 40 day period of observance that culminates with the resurrection celebration of Easter morning. No one is quite sure when the tradition of celebrating this extended season in the run up to Easter began but it is clear that it was formalized across the church by the time of the council of Nicea in 325 AD. While it seems like it initially began as a practice of cleansing and fasting for new converts to the faith to prepare for their baptism, it quickly became a standard practice across all parts of the church in preparation for the celebration of Easter. The 40 days of the season coincide with the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert fasting before beginning his ministry. Likewise, Christians who celebrate the Lenten season will focus on fasting to share in this experience with Jesus.

These next few weeks at Redemption Gilbert, we would love to help you focus on the life and work of Jesus as we begin the march toward the cross and beyond it, the resurrection. We have asked our Redemption Gilbert pastoral team to reflect on key moments and scripture in the life of Jesus that lead up to the confrontation with and victory over death itself that we remember on Easter weekend. We pray that these selections from the Gospels will draw you closer to the life of Jesus. We ask that God would be gracious to us and allow us to better experience the faithful work of his life, death and resurrection. We believe that a people who are invited to be with Jesus, who listen to his voice and who follow in his footsteps will be the kind of people who live in grace and freedom He supplies.

The post The Journey to Easter appeared first on Gilbert.